Diane Adam, author; Claire Kean, illustrator.

Chronicle, 2017

I love, love, love ‘adult’ picture books à la LOVE YOU FOREVER (Munsch, 1995) and SOMEDAY (McGhee, 2007), where the parents watch in wonder as their child grows and learns to navigate the world on their own. They turn my heart to mush, but my children find them much less engaging. LOVE IS has skirted this problem brilliantly. To a child, it is the story of a girl raising a duckling. To a parent, the story is clearly about raising, holding on to and letting go of your child(ren). The child protagonist holds the fragile duckling, experiences noisy midnight feedings and must eventually accept that her baby is ready for a bigger pond (pass the tissues, please!). But never fear, the ending is happy and satisfying. The illustrations use a simple palette and are filled with action and emotion. This picture book would make a wonderful gift to new parents and those with children getting ready to fledge the nest.